CGA Alumni Association launches $30 million fundraising campaign

Coast Guard Academy’s effort intended to pay for 15 different projects

New London — The Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association publicly announced Thursday a $30 million effort, its first-ever comprehensive campaign, to fund 15 different projects at the academy.

Since 1986, the alumni association has raised $50 million, averaging $1.6 million a year. That annual average increased during the association’s campaign to fund eight Leadership 44 sailboats to be used by cadets during a summer leadership training program.

David Obedzinski, president of the campaign, said the association is now looking to raise at least $5 million a year.

“This campaign is very important for us to be able to do what the academy needs and to meet those needs,” he said during the launch party for the campaign Thursday night, encouraging alumni to donate.

The association has raised nearly $18 million of its total $30 million goal, which it expects to reach in 2019. Eight of the projects have already received full commitments totaling $3.5 million.

Capt. Andrea Marcille, Class of 1989, president of the alumni association, said that two projects in particular were funded very quickly.

The first, a $1 million endowment to support the Cadet Honors Program, which prepares cadets to seek out and apply for post-graduate fellowships such as Fulbright and Harry S. Truman scholarships, will fund a part-time advisor for the program. Additional funds will help support cadet memberships in national honors conferences, travel for honors-level research and traveling to fellowship interviews.

The second is a $950,000 Cyber-

security Laboratory and stateof-the-art classroom, which brings the academy closer to having a cyber center of excellence that could serve as a pathway for cadets to go directly into the cyber field for the Coast Guard upon graduation.

The association launched its campaign in 2014, at which point it started quietly raising money. The 15 projects were selected after the academy provided a list of its needs and a feasibility study was done to determine what alumni would be interested in supporting.

Each year, the academy comes up with a list of its top needs, some of which they hope to receive federal support. For the others, the academy relies on private donations, particularly in tough fiscal times.

Twenty-one classes and the academy’s Parents Association have contributed to the campaign thus far.

Other fully funded projects include:

A $1 million endowment for the Cadet Club Sports that will pay for annual operating expenses such as equipment, travel and lodging, and eliminate cases where cadets have to pay to participate.

A $20,000 upgrade to the Plasma Lab, which is now fully operational.

$100,000 to fund guest lecturers, cadet travel, and faculty supervision of research as part of the Geographic Information System Initiative, which involves the spatial analysis of data.

$105,000 for an aviation simulator that is already up and running in Chase Hall.

$100,000 to enhance recruitment efforts.

$230,000 to improve trainee and visitor experiences aboard the barque Eagle, the academy’s training vessel. The Eagle currently is stationed in Baltimore, Md., while it undergoes major maintenance to extend its service life. While federal money funds general operations and maintenance costs for the ship, the $230,000 donation will help with improvements such as redoing some of the woodwork and enhancing the tour experience with audio visuals and signs that the federal funds do not support.

A full list of projects can be found at www.cgaalumni.org/allpresent.